How To Create a Killer Sales Presentation That Wins Customers Over

You got your potential customer’s attention to the point where they are willing to give their time for you to pitch a product to them that potentially solves a problem in their workplace. For most of us, it isn’t easy to get to this point. It mostly likely required a combination of prospecting, relationship building, and saying the right thing at the right time. Now it’s time to close the deal and make the most out of the opportunity by proving that they made the right decision to sit down with you. This means showing your product (or service) in a way that demonstrates enormous value, while demonstrating brand excellence to the customer. Yes, being a salesman will give you the traits of being able to create opportunities and understand the value of your product. However, adopting the traits of a product storyteller will give you the edge in being as convincing and persuasive as possible when trying to close those huge, important deals. Knowing your products strengths and how that relates to the customer is one thing, but being able to articulate it in a powerful, concise way will make all the difference.

Here I will present a framework I’ve learned to create killer sales presentations that win customers over through product storytelling. It all starts with empathy, which means putting yourself in the shoes of those you’re presenting to and asking yourself, “As a potential customer, what is everything I would love to see and hear about if I was being shown this product?” Chances are you would like to see the following from the people entertaining the presentation:

Proof that the brand you’re listening to is reputable

Realization of the very challenges you are facing

A solution to alleviate your struggles combined with key important benefits

An explanation of why they are the best option on the market

Proof of their solution through a fantastic demo

That might seem like a lot, but the amount of preparation to showcase all that information shows you’re serious, confident, and simply the best. Let’s walk through it in more detail as we answer the following questions you should address in your presentation.

Who are we?

To those we are presenting to, let’s reaffirm their decision to take their time to listen to us. Here, we establish ourselves to the customer and she our brand in positive light. Regarded to as a corporate overview, ideas of what is included can be what makes us unique (as a brand), our mission & vision, the important clients we have worked with, and how our company has impacted the industry. Let us give this executive who we are presenting to a reason to care and trust us if they are unfamiliar with our brand. It can generally make more sense to have this as a separate presentation beforehand, so that way you are not adding and removing slides constantly based on who already knows you or not. Either way, it’s an important piece, which is why it is included in this framework.

What issues are you dealing with?

The objective of all meaningful business is to solve a problem. Depending on what product or service you’re presenting for, knowing the consequences of not having it and what the customer is currently facing without your business is important. Speaking to the customer in this way displays empathy because you are aware of their struggles and for that reason are on the same page as them. This also reaffirms they are speaking to the right people who have the potential to help them in this particular area. If you are less confident in identifying your target customer’s issues and time does not permit to study them, then speaking to the industry as a whole in a more generalized way is ideal.

In what ways can we help?

After successfully defining the customer’s problem, it is now the perfect time to explain how your offerings can alleviate their struggles. Consider this the value proposition in terms of showcasing the potential benefits of the product and the impact it can have on business. The amount of specificity to include in this section can vary depending on how confident you are in the results of your product. For example, ‘maximize profits’ is much different than ‘decrease operating costs by 30%’. Either way, the objective here is to keep the continued interest in both your company and product. Don’t dive too deep in the product yet, as this part is more focused on the ‘what’, rather than the ‘how’.

Why choose us over someone else?

Understanding how your product compares to the rest of the competition is absolutely critical in closing a deal. If there is no competitive advantage, your value proposition is lost if your potential customer knows others are offering something more appealing, whether it is in cost leadership or differentiation. Unless what you are selling is a commodity, there is no reason to do business with you without having a competitive edge. In the product development process, most companies will have carefully thought through this before moving forward or else they would have risked their own success. Especially during a presentation in convincing a customer to buy from you, having a section dedicated to why your product is better than the competition will alleviate questions moving forward on the subject. It could be as simple as explaining what other companies in general aren’t doing that you are or calling out direct competitors who you know you are competing with business for. The amount of detail here will depend on the nature of the situation.

How can we prove ourselves?

Through following this process, by this point you should have:

Explained why your brand is trustworthy and worth paying attention to

Spoken to the issues your target customer is currently facing

Outlined key benefits your product can provide and how it alleviates the issues stated previously

Shown the competitive advantage your product has compared to the rest of the competition and why they should side with you.

Now it is time to prove it through a showcasing of your product. This might be shown through a collection of slides of product screenshots with detailed explanations, a hands-on demo, or a product video. The importance here is to outline the main features of your product and how it works. This is while also leveraging the value it is bringing in regard to the problems it’s addressing, the benefits it’s providing, and why it is the best product on the market. If you include all of this and the product speaks for itself, then that is a compelling presentation.

If your presentation addresses most, if not all of these questions, then you’re setting yourself up for success. Properly answering these questions will prove the validity of your product in the marketplace and be convincing to who you are trying to sell to.

P.S. – Here are some pro-tips:

Just because it’s a sales presentation doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the job of the salespeople to create the slides! A sales presentation can typically fall under content and product marketing material. This means that as a marketing person, it might be your responsibility to arm your salespeople with this style of content. As a salesperson, this means it could make sense to ask your marketing team for help.

You might not have all the answers to the questions addressed in the presentation framework. A combination of people in your company should. Design, product, and marketing should have the information you need. Consult with all of them if necessary.

What are your thoughts on this framework and what was talked about here? Let me know!